Crew travels to Chicago for crucial Eastern Conference matchup

The Columbus Crew travels to Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., to face the Chicago Fire on Saturday, September 22, in a crucial match for the Eastern Conference Playoff race. The Black & Gold looks to remain in playoff contention as the regular season nears its end.

Saturday’s match will kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET and be televised live regionally on FOX Sports Ohio, with Dwight Burgess and Duncan Oughton calling all the action. The game can also be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN and on-line at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika on the call, and in Spanish on La Mega 103.1, with Carlos Cordova behind the microphone.

The match comes on the heels of the last-minute 1-0 victory over Chivas USA last Wednesday (Sept. 19), in which Justin Meram scored an 89th minute goal and Andy Gruenebaum recorded his career-high eighth shutout of the season.

This is the third and final meeting between the clubs, with the Black & Gold taking the first match at Crew Stadium on May 26 2-1, behind goals by Eddie Gaven and Emilio Renteria, and succumbing to the Fire by the same 2-1 result, a month later, on June 23, at Toyota Park with Tony Tchani recording the lone Crew goal.

Since meeting the Crew in June, the Fire has gone 8-3-2 and now sits in second place in the Eastern Conference. Most recently it rallied to top the Montreal Impact 3-1 last Saturday, Sept. 15.

Chicago has made several moves recently, including a loan for Federico Puppo to Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting and the transfer of its leading goal scorer Marco Pappa to Dutch outfit SC Heerenveen. The Crew’s arch-rival has also acquired midfielder Wells Thompson from Colorado as well as Alvaro Fernandez from Seattle and veteran forward Guillermo Franco from Pachuca of the Mexican Primera.

The Black & Gold will hold a viewing party at Dave & Buster’s in Polaris (1554 Polaris Parkway #206, Columbus, OH 43240) as the Crew Pub Tour presented by Budweiser continues. Crew Brand Ambassador Frankie Hejduk will be in attendance with prizes and memorabilia as the televisions will be tuned to Fox Sports Ohio for the Black & Gold’s match at Chicago which kicks off at 8:30 p.m. (ET).

Next, the Crew returns home on Saturday, September 29, to host the Philadelphia Union at 7:30 p.m. at Crew Stadium, in another all-important Eastern Conference showdown.